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The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending August 5 rose 21.7%. Refinancing applications increased 30.4%. Purchase volume fell 0.9%.

Wholesalers increased their inventories 0.6% to $458.7 billion in June. This followed a revised 1.7% rise in May. Sales at the wholesale level rose 0.6% in June to $395.8 billion. On a year-over-year basis, sales were 15.4% higher since June 2010.

The trade deficit increased to $53.1 billion in June from a revised $50.8 billion in May. Exports fell 2.3% to $170.9 billion. Imports decreased 0.8% to $223.9 billion.

Retail sales rose 0.5% to $390.42 billion in July after an upwardly revised 0.3% increase in June. The gain posted in July was the largest in four months. On a year-over-year basis, retail sales rose 8.5%.

Total business inventories rose 0.3% in June to $1.518 trillion, up 11.1% from a year ago. Total business sales increased 0.4% to $1.187 trillion in June, up 12.4% from a year ago. The total business inventories/sales ratio in June was 1.28.

The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for August's preliminary reading fell to 54.9 from 63.7 in July. The reading was the lowest in more than 30 years, surpassing a record low of 55.3 set in November 2008.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 7,000 to 395,000 for the week ending August 6. Continuing claims for the week ending July 30 fell by 60,000 to 3.7 million.

Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on the housing market index on August 15, housing starts on August 16 and existing home sales on August 18.

Don Campagna Prospect Mortgage